To Live Again
by EmmGee16
Summary: This is how I think the series should have ended.  Gale/Katniss.  Takes place before anyone plants the roses for Prim, at the end of Mockingjay, and Peeta's not there.  If you have not read Mockingjay then I would recommend not reading *SPOILERS* One Shot


**A/N So I'm a Gale fan, sorry I don't like Peeta very much, it should have been Gale. So this is how I think Mockingjay should have ended. This was before anyone planted any roses for Prim. I'm not a very talented writer, but I'm trying to get better so any feedback, good or bad is very welcomed...enjoy! **

I sat in front of the fire unmoving. I had been this way for a long time, and didn't have any desire to move any time soon. The fire in the brick hearth was slowly dying down, but I didn't make a move to re-kindle it, instead I watched the embers glow and dance. Katniss, the girl on fire. Absently I trace the scar lines on my arms.

Twilight crept over the sky outside, and I could see a few stars beginning to show themselves, I began to prepare myself for another night alone with my nightmares. No one came to check on me at night, I was alone in the darkness with those whom I have killed. Every night I wake up screaming, reaching out for someone, but theres nobody.

Down the hall, the floorboards creak, I don't move my head to see the cause of the noise. There is someone in the house, but I'm not sure who. Haymitch it too drunk to ever know the sun is still in the sky, and Greasy Sae has gone home for the night after making me eat the dinner she prepared. Peeta. Peeta as far as I know had some kind of relapse and is being held in the Capitol hospitals until he can be trusted to live by himself. But I know from the look on his face the last time I saw him, he's never getting out of there. Gale is off at his new fancy job in District 2. Making lots of money, and finding someone new to kiss. Deep down inside I feel a pang of jealousy, or maybe its longing.

Sometimes, in the middle of the night, when I awake from my constant nightmares I think about how it would have been between us. What if Prim had never been chosen for the Games, and I never went in her place. What would have become of me and Gale? Eventually, I like to think he would have still kissed me, and we would have gotten married. No children though, because the games would have still been going on. Thats when I think that if I didn't put an end to the Games, if I had never been the Mockingjay, that innocent children would have been dying ever year to satisfy the Capitol. I realize that even though my life would have been happier, I don't regret anything thats happened because even though many lives have been lost, I've saved so many more.

Footsteps come closer, but still I don't move. My chest hurts with the pain of losing so many people I love that it seems to bind me to the chair. It holds me, not caring about anything else anymore. When the person walks into the room I don't even turn my head, just stare at the embers as they make their last spark before dying.

Strong arms encompass me and I am lifted from the chair that has been my home for weeks. These arms are familiar and smell of leather that brings back memories of woods and a lake. I rest my head against his chest as he carries me up the stairs to my bedroom, one that I have not entered into since I have come back to this house. Quietly he lays me on the bed and goes into the bathroom to turn the water on.

"C'mon Catnip, time to take a shower," he says with kindness. I haven't heard Gale call me Catnip since before the Games, it warms a small part of my heart when I hear it. Although, despite his words, I don't make a move to get up off the bed. He sits down, looking at me, I stare back.

"You need to get cleaned up. You have to start living again. Greasy Sae told me how you've been acting the past few weeks, and I'm going to put an end to it...now get up and take a shower," he starts to get angry at me towards the end, maybe that was the spark I needed, because I reluctantly rose from the bed and into the bathroom that was already filled with steam and slammed the door.

Hot water coursed down my back and flowed down my body in little streams. Dead skin from my new grafts fell to the shower floor as I scrubbed myself pink. I hadn't realized my hair was in matts until I began running soap through it. I combed my hair and left it down to dry, I threw the cloths I had been wearing into the trash can and wrapped an oversized white towel around me and walked back into the bedroom where Gale sat in a chair waiting for me.

Rummaging through the long forgotten closet I found a clean set of cloths that I dawned while Gale looked away, but I didn't care, I was still beyond the point of caring about a lot of things.

When I was presentable I turned to face Gale. He looks at me and smiles my favorite smile. He's wearing an old leather jacket, one he used to hunt in. That job in 2 must have been good, he looks well fed, more muscled than the last time I saw him, and he has a healthier glow behind his eyes that he didn't have before. Maybe its because the war is over, or maybe its because he's been away from crazy me, but whatever the reason, I'm glad he looks this way.

"You're back," I say lamely, not finding the right words.

"Yeah, I'm home," he shrugged his shoulders and let his hands fall to his sides.

"Why did you come back?"

"This is my home. That job I had in District 2, even though it paid good, thats not my home, there was never any air there, I need the woods here...I need you," his voice dropped to a whisper.

I smile at him.

Its the first time I have smiled since Prim died, the first real smile. I feel the warmth of it spread across my face, as my cheeks spread wide. Gale smiles back and moves toward me, slowly.

I meet him halfway. For what seems like hours we just stand and look at each other. I memorize ever feature on his handsome face, and I'm sure he's doing the same to mine. After an eternity I reach my hand up to trace the lines of his face, but he catches my hand in his and moves it to his chest, directly over his heart. Through the rough fabric I can feel its steady rhythm. I lean my head against his chest and listen while he enfolds me in those strong arms and holds me tightly to him.

"It's always belonged to you," he whispers in my ear. His cool breath sending a chill down my spine.

It used to be Peeta that had this job. Of keeping the nightmares away, of keeping my sanity, but Gale is pretty good at it too. I never had been in Gale's arms like this before. Of course we'd hugged before, and we had kissed a few times, but this was something different. This felt like more, and I liked it, it felt natural.

Peeta was still in the back of my mind though. I knew he was lost forever. When the crowd erupted after I shot Coin, he lost it. After he stopped me from taking that pill, and I was separated from him, I knew he had lost it for good. As soon as the guards hands were on him I could see the change in his eyes, that murderous glaze to them, that was only meant for one person, me.

So standing here in Gale's arms felt safe, I knew he would never hurt me. I felt at home here because we were so similar. Peeta was like the sun, and Gale the moon, and I was the morning star stuck between the two of them. Now I have decided to side with the moon, the lights not as bright, it doesn't hurt my eyes.

After a long time Gale lifts my chin to look into my eyes. I can see determination in his, as he leans forward to kiss me gently. He stops a few centimeters away, I cover the remaining distance and kiss him with the longing I have felt since the last time I saw him.

His lips are soft and warm, they match perfectly with mine. He moves his hands so they are on either side of his face, and just like our first kiss, they ensnare me with their rough texture, and soft touch. I reach around his head and grab a fist full of hair as he deepens the kiss. Slowly, his tongue traces the curve of my bottom lip, and I respond by opening my mouth, yielding all control I had, over to him.

We move, so we now laying on the large bed together, his arms wrapped around me as we both sleep. Well he's asleep, but I'm staying awake so I don't frighten him with my nightmares. I lean my forehead against his as he snores lightly. I can see his broad chest from under his t-shirt, and I run my hands over his chest, feeling the hard as steel muscles that lie just under the surface. Gale twitches in his sleep, and I pause, not wanting to wake him. He seems so peaceful as he slumbers.

Now I know this is where I belong, we belong together, we always have. I will never forget the boy with the bread, but he has been lost to the cruelty of Snow, he's no longer within my reach. I think that even if he had been, Gale would have been my choice.

I drift off into the most restful sleep I have had in years in the arms of my Gale.

**I hope you liked it! Please, please, please review! Thanks! :)**


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